Bonding fish-plate.



' l G. A. HUSE & J. L. MILLER.

BONDING PLATE.

FEB.18,`1

APPLICATION F FISH ILBD

' Patented m0211910.

y 1. L :w y,

/Z /P l/a /0 UNITED s-TAtrEs .PATENT oEEioE.

bHARLEs A. HusE, or' WILLIAMsPoRT, AND Vr'AivrEs L. MILLER, or Lnwrsnune,

PENNSYLVANIA.

BONDING FISH-PLATE. i' i Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 27, 1910.

Application filed February'-18, l1910. Serial 110.544,70?.

i T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES A; HUsE and' JAMES L.'M1LLER, citizens of the United States, residing at Villiamsport and Lewisburg, respectively, in the counties of lLycom-A tallicvcontact is secured and maintained be. .'.tween the fish *plate-and adjacent rails.

n the usual. construction and function the fish plate ineffective as a-bond owing 20 tothe factthat the elements speedily induce a coating of rust between theA fish plate and rails with the effectto destroy any electrical contact between suchparts.

It is 'therefore the. ob]ect Aof the present linvention to'provide 4the rail-engaging'sur-j faces of 'the fish plate'with hardened clut-` `ting members which, in the proper seating of the fish plates to connect' the rail ends, will cut into-,the surfaces of the rails` with I the effect to providefthat metallic contact betweenl the fish plate and rails essential to their electrical connection.`

A further 'object is the provision of cutting elements so arranged that a continual i cuttin or rubbing action is had between .said e ements and the rail material during the independent movements of the rail and I fish plate incidentj to the expansionand .contraction of the former and the travel of. a train over the juncture, whereby the'contact ismaintained sharp ,the most effective results.4

The inveition'in its preferred details of and bright with construction will be described in *the fol-V lowing specification, reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings,

11i-which Figure `1 isa improved fish plates, with the rail in eleva- `tion. Fig. 2 is a brollt'en plan of the" fish f plate showing the preferredform of cutting elements. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing another form of cuttingelements. Fig. 4 1 1s a simll-ar view showing another Aform of 5 5' cutting elements. Fig. -5 is an elevation of 'transverse view through the` A the cutting elements shown in Fig.. 3. Fig.

6 is al perspective of the vcutting elements shown 1n Fig. 4'.

Referring.. particularly to the accompanying drawings, it will be noted that the-fish plates l are of the usual accepted type including the upright section 2 designed to 'bear beneath the 'tread portionA 3, of the -rail 4, and the flange portion designedto overlie and bear'upon the base flanges '6 vof the rails. As is usual in this connection the o'pposing fish plates are secured in place by bolts 7 designed to pass through openings 8 inthe plates and rails and engaged beyond one of the plates by nuts .9.. Owing to Athe curved formationof the upright porwedging or spreading action :between the rail heads and base li anges in the tighten- 'ing of the nut to draw the base platesinto proper position.

The present invention consists in applying a series of cutting elements 10 to the tread-engaging end of the upright section of the fish ,plate,and to the base flange-'engaging'surface of said plates. These elements in tool or otherwise hardened material having their upper ends shaped-to provide cutting points 11..- The elements are secured in the fish plates in the surfaces noted, preferably 'by forming recesses in said surfaces, as at 12, vin'which the cutting elements are lixedly secured in any usual or preferred manner. In the 'use of' the improvement the fish Aplates in being drawn to place vthrough the tightening of the nut will cause the points 11, Awhich extend' slightly beyond the sur-4 faces Iof the fish' plate, Vto cut their' way through and Vinto the material of the rails forming a channel on the terminal end of. which the point of each element is so em-v bedded as to secure the most effective metalnection. In vthe slight independentmovements to which the rail ends and fish plates travel ofthe train and in thefexpansinand contraction; of the rails," said points will. be forced to further grind and cutl the material of the 'rails with the effect to continuously and automatically brighten 'and sharpen the contact. f f

1 The shape-or arrangement of the cutting elements arev not material. so far'` as the presf tions `2 of the sh plates there is a lslight `the preferred form are cylindrical bodies' of lic' contact' for providing an electrical conare subjected in thefjarsuincident to the lao ent invention is concerned, aswe 'contemplate the formation of these points and their arrangement in vany preferred detail.' For example, the elements may have angular bodies, as shown in'Fig. 5, o r theymay be crescent shaped or of other curved form inv plan, as shown in Fig. 6. In the use ofelements having their cuttin edges in the form of straight or curved lines they will be preferably arranged so that their maximum vdimension will bein practical parallelism with the rails, in order to insure a continuous cutting operation during 'the expansion and contraction of the rail. It is also preferred that theelements be arranged in staggered order longitudinally ofthe lfish plate surfaces, though it is t be understood that they may be arranged in any other desired order and in any ticular conditions.: i

The salient feature lof the present invention resides in the application of a rail cutting element to the rall-enga'ging surfaces of a fish plate, so that in theapplication of the fish plate saidelements will cut their way into the zrail, with the effect noted, and While .the above details are preferred, it is to be number b est adaptedto the 'par-l ting elements carried thereby and projecting beyond the rail-engaging surfaces of said fish plate.

4. A bonding fish plate, and independent cutting elements xedly secured in the railengaging surfaces of said fish plate.

5. A bonding fish plate, and means carried thereby to cut the material of the rail in any independent movementjof the rail or fish plate.

6. A bonding fish plate, and a cutting element carried by the fish plate-and projecting beyond the tread-engaging surface of the sh plate.

'7. A bonding fish plate, a cutting ele- -ment carried by and projecting beyond the rail tread-engaging portion of the fish plate,

land a cutting element carried by and projecting beyond the rail base flange-engaging #surface of the fish plate.

8. A bonding fish plate formed with an opening in a rail-engaging surface, and a cuttingelement fixedly secured in said openling and having a cuttin portion projecting beyond the adjacent sur ace,

9. A bonding fish plate formed in a railen ao'in surface with a series of o enin s and an independent rail-engaging cutting element secured in each of said openings.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

'. CHARLES A. HUSE. JAMES L. MILLER.

Witnesses:

' 4 DAVID W. GrouLD,` l JOHN L. FLETCHER. 

